Letters -- Published March 26, 2013

As a registered nurse in the Stockton area, I am writing to urge residents to support SB134 by writing to our district representative Sen. Cathleen Galgiani.

As a registered nurse in the Stockton area, I am writing to urge residents to support SB134 by writing to our district representative Sen. Cathleen Galgiani.

SB134 was introduced on Jan. 28 by Sen. Michael Rubio, who recently resigned from the state Senate. Without senator support, this bill may not make it through this legislative session.

This bill would modify the list of allowable food items purchased under the CalFresh benefits program by removing sugar-sweetened beverages containing more than 10 calories per cup. Sugar-sweetened beverages have been shown to increase an individual's risk of obesity, an epidemic currently affecting 24 percent of California residents. Obesity is associated with heart disease, diabetes and cancers, which all increase the financial burden on the state by an estimated $24.5 billion annually.

According to many research studies, obesity is higher among low-income families and recipients of federal and state assistance.

As a nurse at San Joaquin General Hospital, I have personally witnessed the complications of obesity in residents of San Joaquin County. Patients have lost limbs, the ability to work and oftentimes their lives.

CalFresh's goal is to put healthy and nutritious foods on the table. Sugar-sweetened beverages are neither healthy nor nutritious and thus should not be an allowable item for purchase with CalFresh funds. Please join me in support of SB 134 and write to Sen. Galgiani at 31 E. Channel St., Stockton, CA 95202.

Kristi Bahr

Lodi

For close to a decade, congressional Democrats, the media and even some local letter writers have perpetuated a malicious foreign policy falsehood - that President George W. Bush lied about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

As a former University of the Pacific faculty member wrote on March 14, "Above all, she (Condoleezza Rice) was one of the leading Bushites who lied to us in the run-up to invading Iraq. ..."

If this retired professor and Record columnist Leonard Pitts took the time to use any Internet search engine, they would find dozens to hundreds of quotes from Democrats saying the exact same things that President Bush said about WMDs in Iraq.

In 1998, it was Bill Clinton who signed the Iraq Liberation Act and made it U.S. policy to liberate Iraq. That year, Clinton said, "And mark my words, he (Saddam Hussein) will develop WMD. He will deploy them and he will use them."

In 2002, Al Gore told us that Hussein had stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his nation. That same year, Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller said there is unmistakable evidence that Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons. John Kerry in 2003 stated that the threat of Hussein with WMD is real. Former Democrat Senate Leader Tom Daschle even said, "The threat posed by Saddam Hussein may not be imminent, but it is real. It is growing. And it cannot be ignored."

Anyone in the media or anywhere else who claims that Bush lied about WMD in Iraq - and that these Democrats didn't do the same thing - is either hopelessly partisan, dishonest, or worse. As these folks would tell us, there are few things worse than lying about war.

Stephen Wampler

Tracy

Your front page showing the downed cow was very, very disturbing.

Kathy Robello

Lockeford

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